Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 447 Liu Yimin Charity Auction
At 3 a.m., Washington Airport's terminal and runways were brightly lit, as if it were daytime.

The passengers who disembarked from the plane looked at the welcoming crowd with confusion. It wasn't until they saw Liu Yimin walk to the front of the crowd and wave that two Chinese students immediately stepped forward and presented him with flowers.

The reporters turned on their camera flashes and supplemental lights, illuminating the runway even brighter.

"Comrade Yimin, you must be tired from your trip to Europe!" the ambassador said, shaking hands with Liu Yimin.

Liu Yimin smiled and said, "You're too kind. Thank you all for your welcome. You've worked hard."

“Comrade Yimin, now it’s time for us to fight side by side!” Tang Dacheng, secretary of the Writers Association, stepped forward and shook hands with him.

Half a month after Liu Yimin left Beijing, the power transition within the Writers' Association was completed. The National Writers' Association transitioned from the Zhang Guangnian era to the Tang Dacheng and Wang Meng era.

Compared to some veteran writers, Tang Dacheng had very little revolutionary experience. When he graduated from the Shanghai Journalism College in 48, the clarion call for victory in the War of Liberation had already begun.

"Secretary Tang, you came in person?" Liu Yimin hadn't heard that Tang Dacheng was coming before he arrived.

"Call me Comrade Dacheng. I'm here to give you some support. This is Comrade Xu Mengxiong, the translator provided by the Writers' Association and a professor at the School of Foreign Languages." Tang Dacheng introduced Xu Mengxiong to Liu Yimin.

Xu Mengxiong was older than Tang Dacheng and was a renowned translator in my country. He translated Tang Dacheng's "On Protracted War" into English, which had a significant impact abroad.

Liu Yimin doesn't usually need a translator, except when giving award speeches.

“Comrade Yimin, I will do my translation work well these days. I also know Comrade Xu Chi. I’ve heard him tell you about your story in America. I’m looking forward to the upcoming schedule.” Xu Mengxiong winked at Liu Yimin.

Liu Yimin shook hands with each of the welcoming crowd and expressed his gratitude. When he reached Nie Hualing's side, Nie Hualing's expression was somewhat complicated, but she still extended her hand and said:

"Yimin, welcome to the Italian Nonino Literature Prize and the US National Book Award. This year, you are the most shining Chinese writer in the world of literature." Nie Hualing's voice was loud, as if to cover up his embarrassment.

"Ms. Nie, thank you," Liu Yimin said calmly.

Next came writers such as Zheng Chouyu. One of them was a member of Song Xilian's Unification Promotion Association. He told Liu Yimin that Song Xilian originally wanted to come, but unfortunately he was too old and couldn't stay up until 3 a.m.

"Please give my regards to General Song J."

"I will definitely bring it."

After shaking hands, Liu Yimin delivered a speech lasting about five minutes in front of the crowd, once again expressing his gratitude to those who came to welcome him.

After a lot of commotion, Liu Yimin got into the car and returned to the hotel.

At the hotel, Liu Yimin slept from four o'clock until ten o'clock in the morning. Georges, the editor of The Paris Review, brought Liu Yimin a sample copy of the latest issue of The Paris Review.

Liu Yimin's novel, "Freedom of Black Slaves," was published in the latest issue of The Paris Review, though the title was changed to "Redemption of Black Slaves."

The Paris Review spoke with Liu Yimin about the name change, and Liu Yimin thought the name was a good one.

“In the New Testament, ‘redemption’ represents suffering, atonement, and liberation. The enslaved people achieved their own redemption through their own actions. Liu, I felt a lot of pressure regarding the publication of this novel,” George frankly stated.

"Tell me about it?"

"This novel exposes the truth about the Civil War and the enslaved fate of Black people, and satirizes the hypocrisy of politics and politicians. Black people are caught in a huge vortex, and neither the so-called declaration of emancipation of slaves nor the pursuit of human rights and freedom can save them; only they themselves can save them."

This conflicts with the positive portrayal of the Slave Declaration in such works, and our editorial team was particularly divided. However, I think it's a reflection on history and reality, a struggle of ordinary people against their fate.

Liu Yimin flipped through the magazine, and "The Redemption of Black Slaves" was placed at the top, with several pictures inserted inside.

The Paris Review believed the novel had a huge market potential and printed 400,000 copies in advance, twice the number of copies printed in the first edition of the Chinese New Year issue.

The release of this issue coincided with Liu Yimin receiving the award. Riding the wave of the literary award ceremony, George felt that 400,000 copies would not be enough to satisfy the global market.

But he didn't dare gamble and could only print more depending on the situation.

Liu Yimin wrote about 100,000 words of "The Redemption of Black Slaves". At a rate of 15 cents per word, he received a total of about 15,000 US dollars in royalties. After paying US taxes, he only received a little over 10,000 dollars.

Just as George finished his conversation, Niki from the China Publishing House arrived, asking Liu Yimin how his trip to Europe went.

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience.

"You must have made a lot of money for those booksellers during your European speaking tour, Liu? I saw footage of your popularity on the BBC." Nicky sat on the sofa, legs crossed, her words tinged with envy.

Liu Yimin leaned back on the sofa in an extremely comfortable position, facing Niki:

“Ms. Nikki, I also gave quite a few speeches in California during the Olympics.”

Liu Yimin's speeches in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg significantly boosted booksellers' sales, but most importantly, they enhanced Liu Yimin's influence in those countries, which will impact subsequent book sales.

If you really want to calculate how much money booksellers make per event, they don't earn much. Venue fees, personnel fees, and appearance fees are all expenses.

French publishers earned the most, with multiple municipal procurements. In these procurements, the municipal prices were exactly the book's list price, even higher than the actual market price, with the extra profit going to various levels of Commissioners Smith.

"Liu, I'm so happy you won the American Book Award. This year's competition was fierce. You are the first Chinese writer to win this literary award, and also the first Chinese writer."

Did you know? Stephen King was also competing for this award this year, but unfortunately he didn't win.

Liu Yimin said, "That's a bit of a pity. I still really like his 'The Shawshank Redemption'."

Niki then mentioned that The New Yorker had asked Liu Yimin if he would be willing to be interviewed by them, but not in person; rather, they would accompany him to document his trip to the United States.

"They want to document your trip to the United States from an outsider's perspective and write a non-fiction news story."

"Interesting, who is the reporter?"

“Simole Hersh! He’s a very famous journalist, a Pulitzer Prize winner. It would be very interesting to have a Pulitzer Prize winner interview a book award winner.” Nikki looked at Liu Yimin, thinking he would agree.

As expected, Liu Yimin agreed to Niki's request. Himmel Hersh became famous for writing an article about the massacre of unarmed villagers by the US military in the Vietnam War, called "The My Lai Massacre".

Another report that brought him fame was "The Death of Bin Laden," in which he argued that the killing of Bin Laden by the U.S. Navy SEALs was a staged event.

The US intelligence agencies had long been cooperating with Pakistani intelligence agencies; Pakistan kept Bin Laden under house arrest in a safe house, and the Americans were just there to reap the rewards.

This is a political performance, not a demonstration of military strength.

Regardless of the veracity of this report, this reporter definitely enjoys creating sensational news.

Himmel was already waiting outside. After Nicky brought him in, Himmel reached out first and said, "Liu, aren't you afraid I'll write some bad reports about you?"

"There's an old Chinese saying: 'If you're upright, you have nothing to fear.'" Liu Yimin said loudly.

"Don't worry," said Shermore happily. "I'll do my best, and I'll definitely write an honest and excellent report."

After that, Himmel began to participate in Liu Yimin's subsequent activities as an observer.

Liu Yimin met again with the ambassador and representatives of various associations. In the afternoon, Liu Yimin will take a car provided by the National Book Awards Committee to New York. Today is only one month away from the awards ceremony on the 25th.

On the way to New York, Himmore sat next to Liu Yimin, observing him from time to time.

"Liu, I read your speech in Italy. You expressed great confidence in China's economic development?"

“Of course, Himmel, if you were a businessman, I would definitely advise you to invest in China. That’s where you can get rich quick,” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Unfortunately, I am not. Even if I were, I think I would never have the chance to become rich."

“That means you’re better suited to be a journalist than a businessman. American businessmen investing in China not only gain access to the Chinese market, but also have easy access to the Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian markets. Low-cost products can also be sold to Europe via shipping,” Liu Yimin explained. Shimmer then abruptly changed the subject, asking Liu Yimin for his opinion on the CIA’s attempts to entice him and the CIA Foundation’s funding of the Iowa International Writing Program, trying to catch him off guard.

"It's like you're about to eat and suddenly you see a fly."

"It's very vivid, but isn't Chinese literature also linked to politics?"

"But we have never talked about the independent status of literature as much as the United States does. The United States is a capitalist country. Capital controls the lives of the American people through money, and the American government also likes to use money to achieve covert control."

For example, a seasoned prostitute who has been working for many years always likes to wear a mask and claim to be a naive young girl.

Himmel laughed heartily, then said gravely, “The government always preaches freedom and justice, but what I saw in Vietnam was massacre, torture, and rape. Countless young Americans were turned into bloodthirsty machines. In the eyes of the Vietnamese, we were probably fascists too!”

Liu Yimin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Your pen is your weapon. You bear the mission of justice. Although your strength is insignificant, I believe that your actions will be seen by God."

As I often say, the most important thing is action.

The driver of the National Book Awards committee listened and then joined in the two men's complaints, saying that federal and state taxes were too heavy and that they had to pay taxes no matter what they did.

“FUCK, my wife will always complain to me about the countless tax bills. My father left me a $100,000 house, and I have to pay nearly $2,000 in property taxes every year, but I don’t have as much income as my father.”

Amidst the complaints, the group arrived in New York and were accommodated in a special hotel for the book awards.

As the vehicle pulled into the hotel, many readers lined both sides holding signs to welcome it. Some even dressed up as the real-life inspiration for characters in "The Favourite," holding signs against racial discrimination.

After getting off the bus, Liu Yimin waved to the readers and went into the hotel. However, the hotel's soundproofing wasn't very good, and the noise from the three rallies gave Liu Yimin a headache.

This treatment is quite different from that of the Italian Nonino Literary Prize!
One rally was against racial discrimination, another was for environmentalism, and yet another was a protest by people of Vietnamese descent.

This Vietnamese protest was not only attended by Vietnamese students, but also by many adults, and it was very large in scale.

Liu Yimin exposed Vietnam's acts of aggression through works such as "Triumphant Return at Midnight" and "Acacia Tree in the Minefield." As Liu Yimin's influence grew, more and more people read his articles. In terms of literary public opinion, Vietnam had already lost.

"Comrade Yimin, these Vietnamese are really energetic!" Tang Dacheng joked.

"The Vietnamese who are pretending to be patriotic are protesting, while the Vietnamese who are truly patriotic are already on the battlefield."

After Liu Yimin finished speaking, Himmel quickly wrote it down: "Liu, you don't mind, do you?"

"Go ahead and write it, I don't mind!"

Himmel wrote the words "fearless honesty" again.

Bellow, the chairman of the National Book Award committee, visited their delegation. Bellow was the 76 Nobel laureate in Literature.

"Liu, it's a pleasure to meet you. Gabriel García Márquez spoke with me and considered you to be one of the most promising young writers in China. Your novel, *Beloved*, was uncontroversial during the selection process. When Márquez learned that *Beloved* had won the award, he wrote a letter of praise to express his delight."

"Mr. Bellow, thank you for your support."

Bellow also talked with Tang Dacheng about exchanges between Chinese and American writers, mostly in polite conversation.

"Liu, this is the agenda for the awards ceremony the day after tomorrow. We will be holding the ceremony at the Hyatt Hotel. I look forward to your speech." After saying this, Bellow went off to prepare for the awards ceremony.

Translator Xu Mengxiong asked curiously, "Yimin, what do you think are the differences between American and Italian literary awards?"

“Italian literary prizes are richer; the whole process reeks of money,” Liu Yimin said.

Liu Yimin compared the hotels he was staying at, and Tang Dacheng and Xu Mengxiong were stunned. They both felt it was a bit extravagant, as the hotels had both rooms and a living room.

After Bellow left, Liu Yimin didn't rest either; he met with people from Broadway and Miller. Miller was the director of the American stage production of "The Favourite."

“The Favourite has already run a hundred shows on Broadway, what an amazing number!” Miller exclaimed to Liu Yimin.

Broadway wants to invite Liu Yimin and members of his delegation to watch the Broadway performances of "The Favourite" and "Green Book".

Liu Yimin checked the time and said, "Tomorrow, I think. There's an event in New York tomorrow. I wonder if there will be a performance of 'The Favourite' tonight?"

“Yes, and do you know about Joseph’s team’s play ‘The Old Man and the Dog’?” Miller looked at Liu Yimin.

"I wrote the script and authorized them to perform it."

Broadway manager Bond said, "To demonstrate Broadway's commitment to environmental protection and to promote environmental awareness among the American people, Broadway has decided to invite their team to perform on Broadway on March 29th. All proceeds from the performance will be donated to the environmental team for their environmental cause."

“Great, I have to participate.” Liu Yimin asked doubtfully, “But why not just hold it on the night of the awards ceremony? Wouldn’t that have a greater impact?”

The National Book Awards only have an award ceremony, not a gala. Liu Yimin felt that the evening of the award ceremony was the most influential time, a good time.

"The performance for that day has already been scheduled and cannot be changed at the last minute."

Liu Yimin said, "Alright then, but I have a suggestion: let's add a charity auction to raise more funds for our environmental protection cause."

"What's being auctioned?"

"I believe many artists would be happy to contribute their efforts to the field of environmental protection."

Artists have an innate sensitivity to these issues, and for some, it's a good opportunity to gain exposure. Liu Yimin believes this will allow them to collect a considerable number of auction items.

"Of course, I will also put some items up for auction."

After exchanging a glance with Miller, Bond borrowed the hotel room phone to report Liu Yimin's idea to Broadway.

Bond discussed with the other side for about ten minutes and finally agreed to Liu Yimin's idea.

"We will soon issue a statement to the entire nation through the evening paper and evening news announcing the charity gala. Liu, this will be a charity auction named after you."

Miller and Bond hurriedly left the hotel to go back and figure out how to set up the venue and prepare some VIP invitations.

Himmel, standing nearby, gave Liu Yimin a thumbs-up, moved by his charitable heart.

Liu Yimin asked Niki for a lot of books, some of which were signed copies, and these were the items he auctioned off. However, that wasn't enough; Liu Yimin needed to prepare some special auction items as well.

Seeing Liu Yimin's excitement, Himmel couldn't help but pour cold water on his enthusiasm, saying, "Liu, aren't you afraid that no one will participate in the auction?"

"Even if a single cent is sold at auction, the proceeds will go to the entire planet."

Nikki agreed, saying, "Remember Liu's words: action, and more action!"

Niki was the most excited one besides Liu Yimin and the other members of the delegation. The greater Liu Yimin's fame, the more beneficial it would be for her publishing career.

The following day, after attending an academic sharing and reader meet-and-greet event hosted by the New York City Library, Liu Yimin visited Broadway.

Broadway is more than just a performance venue; it's a comprehensive commercial complex. Broadway integrates culture, entertainment, and commerce, boasting countless performance halls. Its overall revenue doesn't rely on performances but rather on its commercial and entertainment facilities.

For Broadway, fame means popularity, and popularity equals wealth.

Led by a Broadway guide, the delegation toured the entire Broadway area from a sightseeing bus.

Tang Dacheng and Xu Mengxiong couldn't help but feel envious, thinking that capitalist countries really knew how to do business.

The next chapter has been censored; things are always getting censored overseas lately.

(End of this chapter)